A family in Florida filed a lawsuit against NASA to Demand compensation for damages suffered due to a piece of debris from the International Space Station which fell on his home last March.
The impact ruined part of the roof of the house and caused them “emotional distress,” Efe reported.
Alejandro Otero, a resident of the city of Naples on the west coast of Florida, reported that a cylindrical object crossed his home on March 8.
That day, the fragment of debris hit the house while his son Daniel was present, almost injuring him. The piece left a significant hole from the ceiling to the basement.
The complaint includes “losses from uninsured property damage, business interruption, emotional distress and the costs of third-party assistance necessary in the process,” according to the law firm Cranfill Summer, which is handling the case.
“My clients seek adequate compensation to take into account the stress and impact this event had on their lives,” attorney Mica Nguyen Worthy said in a statement.
He added that “space debris is a real and serious problem due to the increase in space traffic in recent years.”
Worthy urged NASA to recognize that people should not have to file a claim under a legal theory of negligence when the United States government has pledged to be “absolutely responsible.”
This is according to the law of international treaties for damage to persons or property on the surface of the Earth caused by space objects.
The object was taken to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral for analysis, where It was confirmed in April that it was a metal bracket used to mount old batteries on a loading platform for disposal.
The platform was scrapped from the space station in 2021 and The payload was expected to eventually burn up completely upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere, but one piece survived.
Alejandro Otero told the CBS channel that his son, who was on vacation, called him stunned after being saved from the impact.
“I was shaking. He was in complete disbelief. “What are the chances of something falling on my house with enough force to cause that much damage?” he commented.
“I’m very grateful that no one was hurt,” the man said.
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